Average council tax bills in Wales will be £315 less than in England, it has been revealed.

Although council taxpayers in South Wales are being hit with average 4.3 per cent increases next year, this is significantly below English rises.

The Assembly Government and council chiefs released figures yesterday in defence of their local tax policies.

Last month, the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) said last month that Welsh households would see a 4.7 per cent rise - the biggest in England and Wales.

But Finance Minister Sue Essex endorsed a Welsh Local Government Association survey of Wales' 22 local authorities, which put the average band D increase at 4.3 per cent.

She said: 'I am very pleased to see that local authorities in Wales kept to the limit of five per cent or below that I asked them to.'

Despite revaluation in 2005, which was not carried out in England and which forced up council tax bills for many payers, Welsh band D homes still pay 25 per cent less than those in England, Ms Essex said.

She said she expected a review into English town hall finances to reinforce the property tax regime and reject the idea of a local income tax when it is published tomorrow by Sir Michael Lyons.

'I think he will acknowledge what has been done on revaluation in Wales,' she said.

'I know people were not happy about it but we have got it done.'

Ms Essex, who will stand down at the election in May, has suggested homes may be re-banded more regularly in future to avoid massive one-off hikes.

In its evidence to the Lyons Inquiry, the Welsh Assembly Government pointed to Denmark, where homes are revalued every other year.

She added she was not 'ideologically against' the notion of a local income tax, 'but it does have some real difficulties around it'.

The 4.3 per cent rise does not include police precepts, which take the figure up to 4.4 per cent.